Diversity patterns of leaf-associated aquatic hyphomycetes along a broad latitudinal gradient

• Published in: Fungal Ecology
• Main Authors: Jabiol, Jérémy, Bruder, Andreas, Gessner, Mark O., Makkonen, Marika, Mckie, Brendan G., Peeters, Edwin T.H.M., Vos, Veronique C.A., Chauvet, Eric
• Other Authors: Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei (IGB), Leibniz Association, Swiss Federal Insitute of Aquatic Science and Technology Dübendorf (EAWAG), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich), Technische Universität Berlin (TU), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam (VU), Umeå University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Wageningen University and Research Wageningen (WUR)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: Aquatic hyphomycetes; Fungal biodiversity; Fungal sporulation; Invertebrate consumers; Latitudinal gradient; Plant litter; Species richness; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00958291; https://hal.science/hal-00958291/document; https://hal.science/hal-00958291/file/jabiol_11089.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2013.04.002

International audience Information about the global distribution of aquatic hyphomycetes is scarce, despite the primary importance of these fungi in stream ecosystem functioning. In particular, the relationship between their diversity and latitude remains unclear, due to a lack of coor- dinated surveys across broad latitudinal ranges. This study is a first report on latitudinal patterns of aquatic hyphomycete diversity associated with native leaf-litter species in five streams located along a gradient extending from the subarctic to the tropics. Exposure of leaf litter in mesh bags of three different mesh sizes facilitated assessing the effects of including or excluding different size-classes of litter-consuming invertebrates. Aquatic hyphomycete evenness was notably constant across all sites, whereas species richness and diversity, expressed as the Hill number, reached a maximum at mid-latitudes (Medi- terranean and temperate streams). These latitudinal patterns were consistent across litter species, despite a notable influence of litter identity on fungal communities at the local scale. As a result, the bell-shaped distribution of species richness and Hill diversity devi- ated markedly from the latitudinal patterns of most other groups of organisms. Differences in the body-size distribution of invertebrate communities colonizing the leaves had no effect on aquatic hyphomycete species richness, Hill diversity or evenness, but inverte- brates could still influence fungal communities by depleting litter, an effect that was not captured by the design of our experiment.